Anxiety before my first tri

If you're last out of the water you'll probably get the most applause. The only mental preparation you need for that is knowing how to gratiously handle all that love.

Recommended online reading: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=15#s

ABSOLUTELY read race reports (link from Bear above).  Best way to get excited.

When you get to the race on Saturday, leave yourself some time to get into the water.  Swim a few yards and get comfortable and situated.  It's worth any fear of being cold you might have.  When you're in the water, stand with your back to the crowd and look at the course.  Visualize completing the swim, knowing what the water looks like, etc. 

YOU CAN DO IT!

And I was one of last out of the swim in my first Oly distance.  I got a good shout out from the announcer, everyone (who was left) clapped.  It was very nice.  I went from feeling dejected to smiling and running into transition to do my race.

Good luck!

I was one of the last people out of the water at my first race. 

My big mistake was going out way too fast and spiking my heart rate and breathing.  I just got caught up in the excitment and emotions the moment.  I just about died after the first 100 yds and had to slow down and dog paddle for several minutes until I could catch my breath.  It was the closest I've ever come to quitting during a race.  I was more embarrassed than anything else.  Did a lot of slow breaststroke and sidestroke the rest of the way but did eventually make it to the finish. 

I've done much better since I learned to start slowly and build up to a comfortable pace.  Some good advice that you will hear often is to start to the outside of your wave, swim your own pace and stay out of the combat zone in the center of the pack. 

Good luck,

Mark

This is the most common mistake I've seen from friends in their first races. Your mind should go something like this for the first 150 meters:

Stroke-breathe-slow down-stroke-breathe-slow down...

If things are still going well as the crowd starts to thin out, then pick up the pace. As far as the anxiety goes, the race is going to happen, and you are going to finish. So just sit back and enjoy it. You only get one first race.

and I ran - 2010-05-13 11:24 AM Thanks you guys! I'm going over tomorrow and am going to try to swim a little. I only got one OWS in during training and it was ugly! I'm going to try to relax tomorrow and check out the course. It's a beautiful beach so I'll try to enjoy that!

Just looked at your logs and realized that you're doing the FIT race on Siesta Key.  I'll be there volunteering and cheering you on!

Mark 

Just another thing I learned the hard way:  An easy, comfortable, "slow"  freestyle is still faster and expends less energy than either breaststroke or sidestroke. 

Mark 

This made me LOL because this is SO my Dad. He seems to think because he swam across the Hudson when he was 10 that he can do a triathlon with no training at the age of 63 with a heart condition and two knee replacements. Drives me nuts! Luckily he flaked on the first one he signed up for and never got around to signing up for this one but is still saying that he might do it.